DT RESTS 'STRAINED' SHOULDER

Defensive tackle Shane Burton was in uniform and on the field Saturday. But he wasn't practicing.

Burton was held out of contact drills as he rested his aching left shoulder. That is the same shoulder that a source said has rotator cuff damage.

The Dolphins maintain that Burton's injury is only a strain.

"He's all right," coach Jimmy Johnson said curtly when asked about Burton.

Burton, who said after the exhibition opener that there was nothing wrong with the shoulder, said Saturday that the problem is "only a bruise, some inflammation."

"I just need some rest to get it feeling better," said Burton, who also played a limited amount of time against Tampa Bay on Thursday night. "I haven't had back-to-back days off all camp."

Avery back

Rookie running back John Avery, the team's first-round pick, returned to practice and started to show the quickness that the team had hoped for before he strained his right hamstring.

Avery, who has missed two weeks of camp and fallen to the bottom of the depth chart, got in a few runs and "looked like he had his quickness back," Johnson said.

Avery broke two runs that likely would have been long gainers and was caught in the backfield once on a run blitz by safety Bracey Walker.

May cut, Huard survives

Goodbye Chad May, congratulations Damon Huard.

Huard took another step toward making the roster Saturday when the team released May, leaving only three quarterbacks, Huard, Dan Marino and top backup Craig Erickson.

"I would anticipate we'll keep three," Johnson said.

Not that Huard feels all that comfortable, but he has outlasted all comers so far. Aside from May, the Dolphins drafted John Dutton and had Stan White around for a time.

Huard was here last year when the Dolphins kept only two quarterbacks on the regular-season roster and put him on the practice squad.

The plan last year was to use punter John Kidd as the emergency quarterback until there was an injury to one of the top two.

Instead, Kidd got hurt and the Dolphins put Huard on the roster. Huard is no longer eligible for the practice squad. However, Kidd is running second to Klaus Wilmsmeyer for the punter's job.

As for Huard, he is taking it in stride.

"It's nice to get this far in the process, but you can't take anything for granted," said Huard, who led the Dolphins on a winning touchdown drive against Tampa Bay in the final minutes. "They could bring somebody in anytime and have them compete for your job."

Wilmsmeyer starts well

Speaking of punters, Wilmsmeyer is off to a fine start, averaging 48.2 yards on 10 punts. He also has a net average of 40.7 yards. Kidd has been hampered by a back injury that has kept him out of practice for two weeks.

Still, Wilmsmeyer has to be a little more precise with his kicks. Johnson said that Wilmsmeyer outkicked the coverage on a couple of occasions.

One of those almost led to a touchdown return by Tampa Bay's Jacquez Green. The score was called back because of a penalty.

"You just have to hang it up there a little more," said Wilmsmeyer, who has averaged 40.6 yards with a 34.4 net average during his five pro years. He was out of football last season. "Kicking it 40 yards with great hang time is better than hitting it 50 and not giving the coverage a chance to get there."

Still, Wilmsmeyer, 30, is trying to make an impression, and kicking the ball far doesn't hurt. He was considered one of the better directional punters when he played for San Francisco from 1992 to 1994. He spent the next two seasons with New Orleans.

Kidd, who turns 37 on Saturday, has had his best years in terms of hang time and directional punting when he has been healthy the past two seasons.

However, he has battled injuries, missing three games last season.

Green to practice

Wide receiver Yatil Green said he expects to practice Wednesday and Thursday and then decide if he will play at San Francisco on Sunday.

"I'm just trying to strengthen the knee as much as I can and then get out there and see," said Green, who had surgery Aug. 2 to clean up torn cartilage in his right knee. It was his third surgery on the knee in less than 13 months.

Marino meets Baywatch

Marino and actor David Hasselhoff of TV's Baywatch have a strong resemblance. So much so that Sport magazine and ESPN's magazine recently featured items referring to it. Sport did the more involved comparison, taking mug shots of each at ends of a spectrum, then altering the mugs slowly to "morph" Marino into Hasselhoff. The effort was amusing enough to find its way onto the bulletin board in the team's locker room. . . . Defensive end Danny Stubbs twisted his right knee during practice. Results of a precautionary MRI were negative. . . . Fullback Jim Kitts pulled a groin muscle against Tampa Bay and will be out for approximately 10 days. Johnson said Kitts might be able to play against San Francisco, but that seemed doubtful. . . . The Dolphins had 2,400 disadvantaged children from numerous groups in South Florida attend the game Thursday night.